History of Wake Forest College, Volume IV (1943-1967)
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Things Academic 221 compiled in June 1964, McDonald said that the traveling choir had sent a total of seven hundred singing ambassadors on the road. They had given more than 375 performances in churches, hospitals, and civic meetings from Washington, DC, to Florida. The department offered a major in music leading to a bachelor's degree, but until 1967 the number of majors was rarely more than two a year. Many of those taking lessons in piano, voice, organ, violin, flute, and other instruments were majors in other departments, and the college felt that McDonald and his staff were rendering a valuable service in encouraging students to pursue music as an avocation. Philosophy In 1943 the Department of Philosophy and Psychology boasted a single teacher, Dr. A. C. Reid, who first taught at the college in 1917. Over the years Dr. Reid had served the college in many ways, and his guest appearances in church pulpits throughout the state created a great deal of good will toward Wake Forest. His deep dedication as a Christian permeated all of his classes, and students of Plato and Kant got large doses of theology along with their studies in philosophy and psychology. Before his retirement in 1965, Dr. Reid talked about the approach he had used in teaching. "Education," he said, "is an earnest, sincere, persistent desire to know. Education is a guide to wisdom. Wisdom is an awareness of God. I think I can boil down all I've been trying to do to this―to lead men to a mature experience of the Living God." Although some of his best students did not always agree with him, his influence upon their lives was profound and they were quick to acknowledge it. Dr. Alban G. Widgery, who headed the Department of Philosophy at Duke University for many years, said in his autobiography, "A Philosopher's Pilgrimage," that Dr. Reid was "the best teacher of philosophy I have ever known" and one of the four most unforgettable men he had ever encountered. "His demeanor is so modest that for many he might be quite unnoticeable," Widgery wrote. In association with him …one gets an awareness of his spiritual worth…. He has not simply instructed his pupils in ideas philosophers